stion," declared Lark. "You know, papa, that funny, hollow,
hungry feeling--when you get a shock. That's nervous indigestion,--we
read it in a medicine ad. They've got pills for it. But it was a good
joke. We saw that right at the start."

"And we didn't expect anything like this. It--is very generous of you,
papa. Very!"

But he noticed that they made no move to unwrap the box. It still lay
between them on the hay, where he had tossed it. Evidently their
confidence in him had been severely shattered.

He sat down and unwrapped it himself. "They are guaranteed," he
explained, passing out the little pink slips gravely, "so when they wear
holes you get another pair for nothing." The twins' faces had brightened
wonderfully. "I will never play that kind of a trick again, twins, so
you needn't be suspicious of me. And say! Whenever you want anything so
badly it makes you feel like that, come and talk it over. We'll manage
some way. Of course, we're always a little hard up, but we can generally
scrape up something extra from somewhere. And we will. You mustn't--feel
like that--about things. Just tell me about it. Girls are so--kind of
funny, you know."

The twins and Connie rushed to the house to try the "feel" of the first,
adored silk stockings. They donned them, admired them, petted Connie,
idolized their father, and then removing them, tied them carefully in
clean white tissue-paper and deposited them in the safest corner of the
bottom drawer of their dresser. Then they lay back on the bed, thinking
happily of the next class party! Silk stockings! Ah!

"Can't you just imagine how we'll look in our new white dresses, Lark,
and our patent leather pumps,--with silk stockings! I really feel there
is nothing sets off a good complexion as well as real silk stockings!"

They were interrupted in this delightful occupation by the entrance of
Fairy. The twins had quickly realized that the suggestion for their
humiliating had come from her, and their hearts were sore, but being
good losers--at least, as good losers as real live folks can be--they
wouldn't have admitted it for the world.

"Come on in, Fairy," said Lark cordially. "Aren't we lazy to-day?"

"Twins," said Fairy, self-conscious for the first time in the twins'
knowledge of her, "I suppose you know it was I who suggested that
idiotic little stocking stunt. It was awfully hateful of me, and so I
bought you some real silk stockings with my own spending money, and he